The Percey Abbott / Monk Watson Magic Club

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Monthly Archives: November 2012

Ring 386’s suggested theme for our October meeting was (of course) Halloween. It’s a good thing our themes are just suggestions because it’s arguable whether anyone came up with an effect that was even a little bit scary.

Before we could get to the magic, however, we first had to clear the business agenda and, for the first time since our charter was issued earlier this year, our business issues took more than the usual three to five minutes. Even more unusual, no one seemed to mind.

Colon’s Food Pantry provides food, clothing and Christmas toys for the less fortunate of our community and, over the course of the past year, has seen their rolls double as more and more people struggle in an economy still growing all too slowly. In an effort to help, Members of Ring 386 agreed to put on a Benefit show on November 17. The Colon Community School system is donating time at our local high school (the same stage where Blackstone, Lance Burton, Mac King and a hundred more great magicians have performed during the Abbott’s Get-Together). Admission to the Benefit Show, expected to run ninety minutes, will be donations to the Food Pantry in the form of cash, food, clothing or toys. Most of the details for the event were hashed out among Ring Members during the October meeting.

On to the magic!

Mike Moorian was the first to perform, with his handling of “The Human Pincushion,” ala Harry Anderson. The blood running down Mike’s arm (fake, of course) was about the scariest moment of the evening.

Frank Gayda followed with two card tricks, including Haunted Card, using jumbo Bicycles, and Haunted Aces. Frank performed both effects perfectly, to admirable applause, but I don’t think he scared a single soul.

Rick Fisher demonstrated a Light/Heavy box for the Ring Members, which I think might have frightened Preston Eakins just a tad when he found himself unable to move the box, let alone lift it, after Rick deposited a silk in it. Preston seemed relieved when Rick finally tipped how the box worked.

Krag Ryal performed a Prediction effect using what appeared to be a standard deck of Zener cards, consisting of 25 cards using five repeating designs (circle, cross, waves, square and star). He was able to successfully predict a volunteer’s selection of the wavy lines. Turned out the deck wasn’t quite as standard as it appeared. Krag also showed us a trick using a bag of pennies and centered around the story of Edwin Boothe, brother to the infamous John Wilkes Boothe. Using an old glove supposedly belonging to Boothe, Krag was able to reach into the bag of pennies and pull out the one coin that had been signed by a volunteer.

Ron Carnell finished out the night’s entertainment with a Coins Across routine where four silver dollars jumped NOT from his left to his right hand, but rather from Bill Watson’s outstretched hand into Frank Gayda’s hand three feet away. It was an example of putting the magic into the spectator’s hands. Ron also performed Garrett Thomas’s effect, Stand Up Monte, a card trick that again happens to a large extent in the spectator’s hands.

It was another great evening of magic. Our suggested theme for November is going to include a dry run for the upcoming Benefit Show as each participating Member performs their show routine for the rest of the club.